It is a little difficult to share right now, actually, with the news we just received. So I would like to pray. Let us pray together.
Lord, thank You. You comfort the faint-hearted, and You minister to our own personal needs. Even today, You have been working in our hearts and ministering to us.
Lord, we give You our hearts right now, and we look away to You. We pray in this time, even as we are in Your Word and looking into these Scriptures, that we would be caught up into the things You are speaking.
Lord, we pray that all the many thoughts going on in our minds would be brought before You. Together, we commit them to You, knowing there is a time for grieving and a time for rejoicing, and there is a time for many things.
So, Lord, we trust this time to You, even the softness of our hearts and the brokenness of our hearts. We bring it before You.
Lord, we pray that as we are in Your Word, Your Word would be like a soothing ointment to our souls; that Your Word really would apply into our hearts, do its working, and minister to us.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
We are sharing again today on the church in Pergamum—the letter to the church in Revelation 2. I would like to read just a couple of verses.
Revelation 2:12:
And to the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write:
These things saith He that hath the sharp two-edged sword.
Revelation 2:16:
Repent therefore; but if not, I come to thee quickly,
and I will make war with them with the sword of My mouth.
And lastly, Psalm 119:11:
Thy word have I hid in my heart,
that I might not sin against Thee.
Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
Last week we looked into the testimony of this church. Afterwards, I had a number of questions and comments—not really rebukes—but many good things to talk about. It was very interesting. A few people told me that I shared too fast, so I am very sorry about that.
Today, we are going to take a different approach to this church. The testimony approach tries to see how this church reflects Christ—or, actually, shines Christ and testifies of Christ.
The ministry approach is to see the Lord Himself as a High Priest with the golden lampstands, like in the Old Testament temple, ministering to the churches.
What does that mean? With a golden lampstand, when the priest ministers to it, he helps it shine brightly. These lampstands have oil, and they have wicks that need attending to. The priest would have a snuffer and oil, and he would help the lampstand shine brighter. Even if the light is a little dim, it still needs some help.
Last time I gave a picture of the vision, and someone said, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” So I wanted to put up some pictures this time.
In Revelation 1 through 3, there is a vision of Christ among golden candlesticks—golden lampstands—shining light. I put up a figure of a man, not because it is a bathroom sign, but simply to represent a man. It says, “The Tenfold Vision of Christ.” By “tenfold,” I mean that there are about ten descriptions of Christ in Revelation 1, and some of those descriptions are applied to the churches.
When we looked at the testimony of Pergamum, the Lord explained Himself by saying, “I am the One writing, and I am the One with a double-edged sword.”
The menorah, or golden candlestick, in the Old Testament was altogether one piece. But with these churches, because they stand by themselves in their own localities, they are listed separately. Yet behind the scenes, spiritually, it is all one golden candlestick.
There are seven churches, and the Lord tells John in Revelation 1 to write to them. He also gives the interpretation of the lampstands: they are the seven churches.
Each letter is a little like the lampstand. I will not get into that, but I want to show the reflection concept. In the vision of Christ, one of the things seen was the sharp, double-edged sword coming out of His mouth. The light of Pergamum shines that portion of Christ, and Christ shines it back. There is a reflection on the gold.
There is a fire in the church, and the fire is the fire of Christ. The testimony is the very life of Christ. The vision is of Christ, and when you see Christ, the church should show you more of Christ. The church is called the body of Christ; it is also called “the Christ,” like a great big Christ.
With Pergamum, we are looking at the ministry to Pergamum, and the ministry is based on the testimony. The way the priest ministers to that light in Pergamum is based on the flame: He has a sharp, double-edged sword.
We will see in this letter that the Lord says, “Repent, or else I will come with a sword.” But currently, even though He has the sword, it is not the battle sword. It is the sword of the High Priest. He comes and ministers with His double-edged sword. It is the very light they are supposed to shine.
I have some objects here—object lessons, perhaps, but really just objects. Someone asked me about the double-edged sword. Is it double-edged because there are two tips?
No. The two edges are the two sides of the sword. That is the double edge.
A high priest’s sword might actually be about this size, a little smaller than what we would think of as a warrior’s sword. Why? Because what is he doing with his sword? He is carving up the sacrifices.
It could even be shorter than this. A double-edged sword is useful when doing sacrificial work because it can slice one way, then turn and slice the other way.
It is like drywall work. If you have to cut a hole for a light switch, you may use a drywall knife. The first drywall knife I had was like a little saw. You stick it in the drywall and saw downward. But it only had one edge, so I had to pull it out, reposition it, and I made a mess.
Then I paid more money and got a double-edged drywall knife. As you go in, you can turn and cut the other way, then turn and cut again, because both edges cut. That is the benefit of two edges.
When we carve a turkey, we do not really use two edges. But if somebody were really skilled, they might use a knife with two edges. This is more like the High Priest’s sword.
Last time, we also mentioned a battle sword. This is my Goliath sword that I used while teaching David’s mighty men to middle schoolers. They discontinued this sword because it was dangerous. It was built strongly, and the tip came off easily. In a few of our battles, we lost the tip, and a few people bled—even at my house. So we discontinued using it. It is just for looks now.
This is a double-edged sword, and it is a little longer. But with the Lord, He is coming with the High Priest’s sword, then He says, “Repent, or else I come with the battle sword.”
In Revelation 19, at the battle of Armageddon, He has His battle sword. Of course, His two-edged sword comes out of His mouth. There is a deeper spiritual meaning there, because when He speaks, something happens.
The sword is, I think, the best weapon. It is the original weapon. The first weapon in Scripture was not made by man. When Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden of Eden, there was a flaming sword. This is God’s weapon. It was not our creation.
I had also mentioned the scabbard. I was quoting Spurgeon when I said, “Let it rattle in the scabbard,” or in the sheath. When you have not quite drawn your sword, but you are about to, that is what I was talking about. If we are going to build the walls of Jerusalem, if we are going to have separation between the world and us, the sword is drawn, in our hands, and ready to be used. It is not merely put away.
The sword is the way the Lord ministers, and it is also the way He warns. This is the flame going out from the church.
To us, the sword is especially the Word of God. It is the way the Lord speaks. What He says comes and pierces through.
Hebrews 4:12 says that it divides between soul and spirit. In Revelation 19, it divides the soul from the body, and people die. This sword slices; it is the sharp, two-edged sword.
Now we have seen pictures, so we know what I am talking about.
With the church in Pergamum, we mentioned last time that the name of the place has the thought of a tower, or a union of towers.
Last time we went through the letter mainly looking at it spiritually—what can be seen if you do not know anything about the history or the place itself? This time, in sharing on the ministry to them, we will occasionally borrow some things from the actual place and look at some historical matters to refresh ourselves concerning the problem and the situation.
Pergamum was situated at a high altitude, and it looked tower-like. Some thought perhaps it was called Pergamum because of the appearance of the place. There was also a tower in Troy called Pergamus, and some thought the city was named after that tower.
Prophetically speaking, something happened with the church that changed things significantly: Constantine the Great.
When we looked at Ephesus and Smyrna, we said that, prophetically speaking, Ephesus represented the time of the apostles, around the end of the first century when the apostle John was writing.
Then things changed, and there was persecution—much persecution. The age of Smyrna continued for a couple of centuries. It did not really come to an end until Constantine came along and eventually became the Roman emperor after winning battles.
Constantine used the cross as a type of banner. He had many soldiers who were Christians. Whether he was a believer or not, many people have doubted it, but he received a vision or sign—from whom, we do not know—that said, “With this sign, conquer,” referring to the cross.
In the name of Christianity, and with that as encouragement to his Christian warriors, he fought battles and won victories. Afterward, he made the Christian faith free. Persecution was no longer allowed.
It was the habit of the emperors to have one god or one religion as the main patron, while still allowing many gods. Constantine made Christianity the main religion, but he did not force it on everybody. For the rest of his life, he still participated in worshipping other gods. He especially liked the sun god Apollo.
Yet he said Christ was his God, and he took up the name of Christ. This enters into the age of Pergamum, a new church age. It comes to an end with Thyatira, when Gregory the Great helped establish the Roman Catholic imperial church.
I bring this up not simply to give a history lesson. I want to show what was happening with the church: there was an attack to unite the world with the church.
For a long time, the enemy attacked the name of Christ and attacked the faith of the believers. But he could not win. After the ten persecutions, after many martyrs and faithful believers died for their faith, many stood for Christ. Others were strengthened in their faith when they saw someone stand for Christ.
This did not work against the church.
Instead, a new wave of attack came indirectly and directly through Constantine the Great, when Christianity became the empire’s religion.
Many soldiers converted because they received clothing or money for becoming Christians. If you were baptized, there was a reward. For others, it was a social benefit and gave good status. Being a Christian became a good thing.
You could think, “If we cannot beat them, let us join them.” But the world can never really join Christ. The world only crucified Christ. You cannot merge these two.
This is a subtle attack—the enemy’s next wave of attack.
In the letter, the Lord says, “I know that thou holdest fast My name, and didst not deny My faith.” That gives a hint of what was happening. These Christians were battle-weary, but battle-strong. They had stood for Christ. They were standing on the testimony of Antipas and all the martyrs—those who stood against the world.
Then suddenly Christianity was free. Many saw it as an opportunity. Some Christians called him Constantine the Great and thought, “This is great. We are not being persecuted.” But if they were watchful and careful, they could see that they needed to be wary because the world was also trying to merge with the church.
Leading up to this time, wrong thoughts had already been developing among many believers, though they were dying for their faith. There were some things in which they had become confused.
The age of Pergamum is a time when the world was trying very strongly to merge with the church. The ruling empire said, “We want to promote Christianity.”
The mustard seed reminds us of the parable in Matthew 13. Mustard plants are where we get mustard for cheeseburgers, right? But there is also something called a mustard tree, though we do not actually get mustard from it.
The point in this parable is that God cares for the fruitful mustard seed as it ought to be—more like a picture of the church with the foliage of real mustard.
The abnormal thing is that a mustard seed grows into a great mustard tree, and evil birds nest in it. This parable concerns the age of the church and what would happen in the future.
The church starts out small, pure, good, and fruitful. But it becomes a huge tree where evil birds nest. It is no longer fruitful, though it is very large.
Sometimes, as Christians, we first think, “This is awesome. The church got big. It took over the world.” But it did not. It merged with those birds, and it lost some of its fruitfulness.
The real church then becomes hidden. There are overcomers among what is called the church. What is called Christianity includes non-Christians and unbelievers, because someone can say, “I am a believer,” but not actually be one.
I was a Christian before I was a Christian. People asked me, “Are you a Christian?” and I said, “I am a Christian.” But I had never met Christ, and I had never had my sins forgiven. I was not a born-again Christian.
The Lord says to Pergamum, “I know where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s throne is.”
Physically speaking, some connect Pergamum with Babel. Babel was the original empire under Nimrod, in Genesis, where languages changed and people were scattered. In building that tower, they wanted to make a name for themselves. It was an early working of Satan to create a world empire and gather all men under one banner.
Here is a nerdy nugget. When Babylon was overtaken by the Medes and Persians, the priests were banished. The place where they located and established themselves was Pergamum.
They had a title for the chief king-priest: Pontifex Maximus, the chief bridge-builder. Eventually, King Attalus III gave his kingdom to the Roman emperor and gave him that title as well. Then Pergamum became the first place to establish worship of the Roman emperor—to worship Caesar.
Eventually, during the age of the Christian emperors, that title was given to the bishop in Rome.
Some people think that when Revelation speaks of Satan’s throne in Pergamum, there may be a geographical connection. But I prefer to step back and look at it mainly spiritually, because that is something more solid.
Satan is called the god of this world. He seeks to rule the world system in this age. Pergamum was also called the chief city of worship in Asia Minor. It led the way in the worship of different idols. It was advanced in idolatry and advanced in worldliness.
The statue in Daniel shows the major kingdoms of the world. Eventually, the rock—the solid rock of Christ’s kingdom—comes and strikes the statue at its feet, and it is destroyed. The rock not cut out by hands is the eternal kingdom of Christ.
When this vision was given to Nebuchadnezzar, he was the golden head. Then the body represented later empires: the Medes and Persians, Greece, and then Rome—the iron legs.
During the age of Pergamum, the church merged with the Roman Empire. The leader of the Roman Empire—the legs of the statue—became involved in ruling over church matters, deciding who would be bishop, who would lead, and even helping determine doctrine.
When there were disputes concerning the person and work of Christ—the Trinity, whether Christ was born or had always existed—the emperor could call a council and determine doctrine. A ruling was coming from the world system.
Outwardly, the government was ruling over the affairs of Christians. Yet inwardly there were overcomers who saw through it, bore their testimony, and maintained separation.
The Lord ministers to Pergamum by the flame of the two-edged sword. The exhortation to them is simply, “Repent.”
With Ephesus, the Lord said, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” He gave them a way to repent. But here He says, “Repent, or else.” So we have to ask: how do we repent if we find ourselves mixed with the world?
If the Lord is ministering and adding oil to the flame, the way of repentance is to receive the double-edged sword. At this point, the double-edged sword is the High Priest’s sword. It is the Word of God coming through and showing what is of God and what is not of God. Scripture enlightens wrong thoughts, reveals truth, and shows the right way.
We need to stand on the side of the Word of God and allow it to bring light to areas where something may sound like good reasoning but is not according to God.
This is the way of deliverance from the merging of the world with the church.
In John 17, the Lord Jesus prays:
I have given them Thy word;
and the world hated them,
because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
Later He says:
They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them in the truth:
Thy word is truth.
This is the Lord Jesus’ prayer for us to be delivered from the world while we are in the world. The Word of God separates us. To sanctify means to set apart.
The double-edged sword divides by the Word of God, separating us from the world. This is our real deliverance from the world.
The temptations of the world described in 1 John 2—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—came upon the Lord Jesus. Every time, He was sanctified by the Word. He quoted Scripture. The sword in His mouth came out, and every time He overcame the world’s temptations.
We should love the people of the world, but when we see the world system, we should remember that the world system crucified Christ. This is the world that said, “Crucify Him.” It is that system.
Galatians 6 says:
But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world hath been crucified unto me,
and I unto the world.
This is our stance and the right mindset given by the Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 shows that the Word of God divides between soul and spirit and exposes our hearts. The Lord is not merely bringing out thoughts and showing us truth versus lies. He brings His work very deep.
When the Word is received and we become hearers of the Word, our minds can be renewed. Then we become doers of the Word. We begin to discern what is carnal and what is not carnal.
A Christian may say, “That is not wrong.” But you could say, “But it is not Christ.” That is a different way of walking.
As the Word of God works as the ministry of the High Priest, and as we are on the altar as living sacrifices, the Lord says, “This is your soul. This is your spirit. Be led by the Spirit. Know My voice. It is here. It is not in your emotions, and it is not merely in your mind that you can know My will.”
As we respond and obey, we mature spiritually. This maturity gives discernment so that we can distinguish things that differ. We can tell what is of the world and what is of God.
This is real deliverance from the world system. It is the inward working of the Word. You cannot always explain it. You cannot always say, “This is the reason Christians do not do this.” Sometimes all you can say is, “The Lord will not let me do that, and I do not want to do that.”
There is a sense of the Spirit, not always merely a matter of the mind. There may not always be a verse that directly addresses every situation. The Lord may give you a personal verse, but it is not always simply reasoning about right and wrong. It is Christ or no Christ.
The wrong question is, “What can I do? What can I not do?” The right question is, “What does the Lord have me doing?”
As I am on this altar, a living sacrifice, I belong to Him and follow Him. Then I pray, “Lord, search my heart. Show me if there is some wicked way.”
He may show you something you are doing that nobody else even knows is wrong, but you discover, “It is my flesh. It is not Christ.”
This delivers us from all kinds of worldliness that nobody can teach us completely. No one can tell you everything that is worldly. If someone tries, sometimes you react because you cannot understand it. But if you walk in whatever the Lord has shown you, more and more you gain discernment.
The Lord said to Pergamum, “I know where thou dwellest.” He says this before getting into the throne of Satan and their difficult situation.
I find this a soothing thing in His work through Scripture. He knows where they dwell. They dwell where Satan’s throne is, where the world is merging in, in a time of much temptation, in a place where sin is openly everywhere.
But 1 Corinthians 10:13 says:
There hath no temptation taken you
but such as man can bear:
but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation make also the way of escape,
that ye may be able to endure it.
There is no temptation that cannot be overcome. The Lord always makes a way through it.
Believers have said to me, “I know we are not supposed to do this, but I am different. I am so tempted. I just cannot overcome this.”
But the Word of God says there is no temptation like that. There is always a way out. In a moment of complete temptation, we can cry out with the Word of God: “Lord, You said there would be a way to endure it. Open the way. Show me the way out right now.”
Sometimes it is a phone call to a believer. Sometimes it is singing a song. Sometimes it is shouting the name of Jesus and calling on His name. But there is always a way.
For those who have fallen into repeated sins, our minds first need to be renewed by the Word of God. There is no sin that you cannot stop. There is no temptation stronger than the Overcomer within you—the Christ-life within us.
He overcame the world, and by faith we have His life in us. Therefore, we can overcome the world. This is how we are overcomers. That is why there is always a way through and always a way out.
The Lord says:
Thou holdest fast My name,
and didst not deny My faith,
even in the days of Antipas My witness, My faithful one,
who was killed among you, where Satan dwelleth.
For the physical and geographical church in Pergamum, Antipas may have suffered under persecution in that period or shortly afterward. John himself was writing from the Isle of Patmos because he had been banished. That was a form of persecution.
For the prophetic age of Pergamum, the days of Antipas likely refer more to the Smyrna period, when the major persecutions took place.
This is a comforting Scripture from 2 Timothy 1:
For I know Him whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that He is able to guard that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
The Lord can keep us. This was their testimony, and the Lord brought it out and strengthened them with it. They had a flame. They had kept His name and His faith.
When the Lord ministers to us, even while delivering us from the world, He does not forget our faithfulness. He does not forget the things we have overcome. He is not only looking at our failures.
As humans, we often remember the wrongs of others more easily. But the Lord knows exactly how He has kept us. We can testify, “I entrusted it to Him, and He kept me for that day. I know whom I have believed.”
Sometimes fellowship strengthens believers in the very areas where they are walking rightly. If someone has a wrong thought, confusion, or worldliness, you do not always go straight at that issue. Sometimes you share with them something good that the Lord has done in them.
As you fellowship this way, the heart opens. There is remembrance of Christ and fresh experience: His name, His faith, and how He has kept us through days of suffering.
Sometimes people are delivered from things without your directly confronting them. You may sit with a brother or sister and know something is wrong, but instead of speaking about that immediately, you talk about the good old days—when they were saved or when they were really walking with the Lord. They share stories of what the Lord has shown them.
By that, the flame is strengthened. Sometimes that very strengthening of Christ overcomes the darkness.
The Lord says, “I have a few things against thee.” One of those things was the doctrine of Balaam.
Balaam wanted money. He was the prophet for profit. In Numbers, he wanted the riches that the king was willing to give him if he would curse the Israelites.
This is the merging of the world again.
Have you ever heard a doctrine of Balaam saying Christians should have money, Christians should be wealthy, God wants to bless us, God wants us to prosper, and why would a good God not want us to have a lot of money?
“If you give one hundred dollars, you will get a thousand back,” or something like that. But the doctrine of Balaam is the thought of the world. The world uses money to tie everything together.
Balaam was trying to have both things. He also taught a secret way to trap the Israelites: through eating meat sacrificed to idols, which led to idol worship and sin.
This is how it happens with the world. Our understanding must be renewed by the Word of God. We may say, “I can probably have both.” None of us may go and worship a golden cow, but we may say, “Is it not okay for me to do this little bit, without joining in all the sin?”
I do not even want to mention examples because I feel like I will poke everyone’s eyes out. It may be personal to some of us and not to others. But you know when you are asking the wrong question. You know when you are saying, “It is okay for me to enjoy this and also enjoy the Lord,” while there is a slight conviction in your conscience.
There is a sense that it pulls you down another path. It is quite a distraction from the Lord.
First, concerning money, the Lord said:
No man can serve two masters:
for either he will hate the one, and love the other;
or else he will hold to one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
You cannot do both.
That Word should come back to us whenever we get excited about climbing the corporate ladder, having a lot of money, loving possessions, or loving electronics. You cannot love both.
If you love electronics, money, or whatever you buy, it takes a portion of your heart. Do you emotionally hate God? No. But it is the choice of hate. You choose that over God.
We think we can love both: “I really love God, worship Him, and enjoy worshipping Him, but I really love my stuff.” Emotionally, perhaps you can feel that way. But in your choices, when you love God, you serve God and choose His direction.
When you love the things of the world, such as money, you make choices to keep it, gain it, spend for it, and hold onto possessions. The Word of God brings separation and sets us apart from the love of money.
In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul deals with the matter of meat sacrificed to idols. The letter to the Corinthians in many ways matches the letter to Pergamum. Paul’s seven letters can be compared with the seven letters of Revelation 2 and 3, and the church in Corinth particularly matches Pergamum.
Corinth dealt with meat sacrificed to idols and with fornication. These were the same problems, rooted in the same worldly thought: “I can merge both together.”
Concerning meat sacrificed to idols, some Christians reasoned, “It is just a cheeseburger. The idol is just stone or metal. It is nothing.”
But knowledge puffs up, while love builds up. Some believers were stumbling when they saw others going to places where people commonly sinned.
I will use myself as an example. In my younger years, I was a dance instructor—not a very good one, really. It was mainly ballroom dancing at a camp, and I took some lessons. But I had a dream of being a ballroom instructor for Christ.
My dream was to teach dance on cruise ships. I wrote a few dance skits that preached the gospel. I was going to be an evangelist with shoes on—my footsteps with the gospel of peace were going to be like tap shoes.
I loved to dance. We can probably all agree that dancing as an action is not necessarily sin. You can quote Scriptures like they did in Footloose: David danced before the ark, and so forth.
But as I began to walk with the Lord and the Word ministered inside me, I began to think differently.
We did ballroom dancing, and it was not dirty dancing in the way we did it. But even today, if I think about my wife ballroom dancing with somebody else, I would step in with my sword and stop it.
We used to say at our dances, “Have a Bible between the two of you.” We had our pocket Bibles or whatever.
But what is happening in the dancing? Even if no obvious sin is occurring, we may say sincerely that we are dancing to worship songs and loving both things, having the best of both.
Gradually, though, I discovered something. If you found out that I went to a dance club just for fun, simply to go dancing, would that strike you strangely as I stand here and teach about Pergamum?
I am not saying I do that. You would say, “What? This is going in the books.”
I am not saying that dancing is wrong. But I was not tempted by meat sacrificed to idols. My temptation in the past may have been, “I love dancing, swinging somebody around, and flipping them.” Eventually, though, the question became, “Lord, what do You want me to do with my free time tonight?”
It was no longer simply, “It does not say I cannot go dancing, and I love dancing, so I am going dancing.”
This is a silly example, because probably none of you are tempted to become ballroom instructors. But for me, it was an area where my question was wrong.
It was not, “Can I do this?” Even if I tried to dance in the purest way, that was not the right question. The right question was, “What does the Lord have me do?”
The Lord showed me that I could bypass all the dance skits and simply walk up to someone and share Christ. I did not need the cruise ships to preach the gospel. There was a renewing of the mind.
The bigger question in Corinth was not merely, “Think of your brothers in love.” In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul exposed the matter:
What say I then? that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything,
or that an idol is anything?
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to demons, and not to God:
and I would not that ye should have communion with demons.
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons:
ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.
Paul renews their minds. He shows them that there is evil behind such things. This is not about thinking that a voodoo doll itself has power. It is realizing that we are separated from the world and that there is an evil system behind this world.
Another issue was fornication. In 1 Corinthians 6, a thought comes into people’s minds concerning sexual promiscuity, relationships, and dating.
This comes up especially among unmarried people and younger people. They ask, “What are your physical boundaries? What are you allowed to do while dating?”
This is an honorable Christian merging with the world system. Current dating thoughts often merge with the world system. We test someone out to see whether we might get married. The Christian part is the thought of marriage, but the worldly part is the process and mindset.
Believers in Corinth—and believers today—may think, “My body is just my body. Meat is for the body, and the body is for meat. It is only physical. My Christian walk is spiritual.”
This is the Gnostic reasoning of a higher knowledge: forget about the body and do whatever you want with it.
The world says, “When I worship, I worship in spirit and truth. But when I am on earth, I can do whatever I feel like with my body. It feels okay to me.” It is like the hippie days: “Let us just have love.” But their concept of love was not godly love. It was fornication.
Scripture renews this thought. When a man and woman come together, they are joined in body. Paul quotes Genesis:
The two shall become one flesh.
If you join yourself with a harlot, or join yourself in fornication or adultery, it is a drastic sin.
Our wrong thought is that all sins are the same. In one sense, that is true: all sin brings condemnation apart from Christ. But all sins are not the same in their earthly effects and consequences.
Paul explains that sexual sin affects the body, and your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You should not unite the temple of the Holy Spirit with a prostitute.
Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you,
which ye have from God,
and ye are not your own?
As the Word of God comes in, our minds begin to change. The separation in relationship purity is on another level.
The question is no longer, “Lord, what can I do with my boyfriend without sinning, while remaining a virgin until I get married?” The question becomes, “I am set apart for the Lord. Lord, whom You join together, let no man separate. I pray that You would join me with whomever I should marry.”
This is a whole different mindset. Dating in its worldly form is Balaam’s teaching. You may date and never kiss, but your soul can still be joined with someone.
Dating, as I say, is good practice for divorce, but it is not good practice for marriage. The world says, “Date around. Eventually, when you are ready to settle down, stop having fun, get married, and have kids.” That is the world’s mindset, not the Lord’s mindset.
Sometimes this may seem obvious, but we do not always know that the Word of God addresses it. When temptation comes and worldly reasoning sounds more reasonable than our reasoning, what separates us from the world is remembering Scripture and drawing the sword.
Not all sins are the same. Physical sins matter. Sexual sin does damage. It is not the same as a minor sin that can be quickly repented of. There are different results and consequences.
If you murder somebody, it is not the same as lying about stealing a pencil sharpener. Both are sin, but they are not the same in consequence. Murder may carry the death penalty. The consequences are different.
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans concerns victory over the people—nike over the people. This is where, in the church age of Pergamum, clergy and laity developed.
Logically, it may have seemed necessary because Christianity in that age did not consist entirely of real Christians. Those who actually knew the Lord became more prominent. Others who did not know the Lord but knew the emperor also became prominent.
People like Diotrephes, who loved to have the first place among the saints, climbed up and climbed up.
This was a teaching that began developing during the age of Smyrna. Some early church fathers had confusion here and there. They were dying for the Lord, standing for their faith, and becoming martyrs, but some confusion still came in.
Someone may say, “The church fathers did it this way. Why should we change? This man knew the apostle John; he must be right.”
But knowing someone who is right does not mean you understand everything they understand. After they pass away, people forget things and other ideas come in. When separation from the world is lost, worldly thoughts come in.
Their teaching may be logical, but it is not necessarily based on Scripture.
One development was the idea that we need a hierarchy of priests and one leader for each church. But 1 Peter says that we ourselves are a holy priesthood.
Ye also, as living stones,
are built up a spiritual house,
to be a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We are priests.
I was talking with a friend from a Catholic background and told him I was a priest. It sounds a little strange, but scripturally we are all priests who are born again. He thought it was a cool concept—not merely logically cool, but scriptural.
It may be more convenient to have one person in charge. In the world, a business has someone in charge. But the church is different.
Often in church life, ten percent of the people do everything. But 1 Corinthians 14 says:
What is it then, brethren?
When ye come together, each one hath a psalm,
hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation.
Let all things be done unto edifying.
We come together with our hands full of Christ. This is the priesthood of all believers in experience, not merely as a title.
A priest comes to serve the Lord and serve the people. If we have the mindset of Scripture, we realize, “I am a functioning member of the body of Christ. I am serving the Lord.” No titles are needed. There is a priesthood of all believers.
There is leadership in the church, but notice that Scripture speaks of elders—plural.
In Acts 20, the elders of the church in Ephesus came to meet the apostle Paul. There is an elderhood, a group of leaders. This is not victory over the people. It is not the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. It is not one man rising to the top as president or CEO.
There is leadership, but it is a different kind of leadership: Christ is the only One in charge. He is the only main Person in charge.
What about bishops? Bishops are scriptural—but not in the later hierarchical sense. A bishop is an overseer, and an overseer is also an elder. These terms are used interchangeably.
Philippians 1:1 says:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi,
with the bishops and deacons.
This is one church group in one city: the church in Philippi. Yet there is more than one bishop. There is no one bishop over Philippi.
In the Word of God, there is never one bishop in charge. Bishops, or overseers, are also elders. There is a group of bishops exercising oversight.
Titus 1 shows this interchangeability. Paul tells Titus:
For this cause left I thee in Crete,
that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting,
and appoint elders in every city.
He then gives the qualifications for elders and continues:
For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward.
The terms elder and overseer are used in the same section. One emphasizes maturity—elder—and the other emphasizes the function of overseeing, shepherding, and caring.
What about pastors? Is that not in the Bible? The word pastor is used interchangeably with the word shepherd. It is also used of physical shepherds.
Ephesians 4:11 says:
And He gave some to be apostles;
and some, prophets;
and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints,
unto the work of ministering,
unto the building up of the body of Christ.
Some translations say “pastors,” and others say “shepherds.” God gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for their body ministry and for the building up of the church.
Does this mean there is one man who is pastor over an assembly? It does not actually say that. Is there one apostle over an assembly? Is there one prophet over an assembly? These ministries seem to travel and function in various places.
Shepherds and teachers function through their gifts to help equip the saints. This is given to the church, but it is not necessarily a leadership position. It is a ministry calling to equip the saints.
In 1 Peter, elders are exhorted to shepherd the flock. If there are local pastors, there may be several. In Memphis, someone asked, “Who is your pastor?” One brother said, “We have a few pastors, actually.” He meant the elders or responsible brothers who were shepherding.
The function is shepherding; it is not a capital-P title. If we are looking for titles, the biblical term would be elders, but even that is not always used as a title.
Finally, the Lord says:
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies.
The Lord ministers to us as we listen, and listening means responding. If we are hearers of the Word, we must also be doers of the Word.
Having our minds renewed or seeing something more clearly is not where the ministry especially takes flame. It takes flame when we step into doing it.
How do we repent? We take up the Word of God ourselves.
That is why I read Psalm 119:11:
Thy word have I hid in my heart,
that I might not sin against Thee.
If we are doers of the Word, what do we actually do to repent of the merging of the world and the church? We take it up to be in God’s Word.
Then we will experience more separation from the world. But how do we do this? The psalmist hid the Word in his heart. The heart behind it is, “I do not want to sin against the Lord.”
If you find yourself merged with the world, ask yourself, “What is my time like in the Word of God?” Even if you do not know how to be delivered from the world, and even if you have not stopped loving the world, begin reading the Word of God. Look to the Lord as you read it. You will discover that it works in your heart and brings real deliverance.
Our repentance may be simply that, even with dull minds, we begin to memorize a little of the Word of God, meditate on it, and let the Word of Christ dwell in our hearts richly.
Focus on a few verses each day. Chew on them all day. Even if you cannot memorize much, someone said in a basic lesson, “Even a dull person can memorize one verse a day.”
When I read that, I was happy because I could never memorize anything in school. So I started trying one verse a day, and it was encouraging.
Even if you cannot remember, write it on a card and carry it with you. Text it to yourself. Keep it on your phone and look at it through the day. The point is that you are thinking about it and meditating on it.
Read a panoramic view of the Word of God—read through the Bible purposefully. You cannot always live only on what you remember. As you read, you discover things you had never noticed. Then the thoughts of the world are exposed by the light of God’s Word.
The Lord says:
To him that overcometh,
to him will I give of the hidden manna.
This connects with Deuteronomy 8, which the Lord Jesus quoted:
And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger,
and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not,
neither did thy fathers know;
that He might make thee know
that man doth not live by bread only,
but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord
doth man live.
The Lord fed Israel with manna in the wilderness so they would learn that man does not live on bread alone, but by every Word from the mouth of God.
For the overcomer, the reward in view is hidden manna. But even now, as the Lord brings us through the wilderness, He teaches us that we live by the Word of God. This Word separates us and sustains us.
Another promise to the overcomer concerns the white stone.
Isaiah 43 says:
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob,
and He that formed thee, O Israel:
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee;
I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine.
As I contemplated this, thinking of the Lord ministering to us through His Word, I thought of Jacob’s name being changed to Israel. The Lord redeemed him and said, “I have called thee by thy name.”
It is almost a call to those who hear and overcome: “I know your name. I have called you by name. Your name is secret with Me. You do not even know your name, but I am doing something. There is a reward at hand.”
Physically and geographically, people in Pergamum may have understood the white stone as a stone of reward, because stones were used for such things. But either way, it is a reward. It has a new name written on it which no one knows except the one who receives it.
The Lord knows our name.
This morning, when I read that verse again, it was comforting and ministered to my heart. Whatever trial you are going through in the world, whatever difficulty comes in the separation from the world, whatever failings happen and whatever things we meet, the Lord knows our name.
The Lord is ministering to us and working with us. He is the One who redeemed us, and He is the One bringing us all the way through.
With this vision and testimony, we have a real need to repent and to have this sword experience inwardly and in our hands—the Word of God there.
Even with the sorrows of the day, the things happening around us, and all the situations before us, there is an encroachment of the world upon us.
At times, the Lord sends us through the gates and beyond the walls, with sword in hand, to minister to other people. There is a real need among us to share the Word of God with one another, so that we do not fall into the thoughts of the world or into the wrong ideas the world puts upon us about ourselves and about what we can or cannot do.
These things lead to destruction. There are many missed opportunities among us when we do not speak the Word to each other, do not share the Word, and do not have the Word to share.
I believe the Lord is ministering to us. I believe our hearts are after Him. So what do we actually do? Let us walk in this way with the Word of God.
Let us pray.
Lord, we pray that even with so many Scriptures and so many things considered, Your Word would be applied deeply in our hearts.
Even with thoughts that are upon us, among us, and surrounding us—things to which we do not have the answers—Lord, we pray that we would discover Your Word, search Your Scriptures, discover Christ, and discover the things of the Lord.
Lord, we pray that this would be our testimony: that we would take up the Word, be together with You with a sword ready and drawn, and be ready for battle.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.